Beauty sleep is a real thing — study shows lack of rest can damage your looks and social appeal

A lack of sleep can make
you significantly less attractive to others and reduce your
social appeal, according to research by Swedish scientists.

The study, published in the Royal Society Open
Science journal, found that acute sleep deprivation and
looking tired will make you appear more ugly and perceived as
"less healthy" by others.

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The Karolinska Institute asked 25 male and female university
students to be photographed make-up free.

In the first set of images, the students had eight hours of sleep
for two consecutive nights. In the second, they were restricted
to four hours in bed for two nights.

A group of 122 strangers then rated the photos on how much they
wanted to socialise with them. They also assessed their
attractiveness, health, sleepiness, and trustworthiness. The
scores were lower among the "sleepy" photos in all categories
except trustworthiness.

The research also found that people might avoid contact with
"sleepy-looking" individuals, as a strategy to reduce health
risks and poor interactions.